The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR P.M. Resurrexi. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1884.

Thames Star, Volume XV, Issue 4916, 11 October 1884, Page 2

The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR P.M. Resurrexi. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1884.

The fear we expressed in a previousariicle that internecine strife would tend to delay the construction of the Main Trunk Line was not, it appears, a groundless ore, and there is a probability that the battle of the routes which threatens, will have the effect of retarding the commencement of this necessary work. It will indeed be a source of much regret if any ill-advised action of the Auckland or Taranaki people should hare the effect of impeding the progress of the measures necessary for the inauguration of the Te AwamutuMarton line ; and while sympathising with them in their mourning over any loss they« may sustain through the route mentioned being selected in preference to the Strat-ford-Te Awamuta line, we must point out that injudicious action on their part may have a deterrent effect on the construction of the railway by any route. If the two provinces mentioned cannot obtain what they most wish for, let them not stand in the way of the next best course, for them even, being adopted ; if they cannot obtain that which will apparently most benefit them, let them just for once, indulge in a little self-abnegation and not violently oppose that which is perhaps, on the whole, the best thing for the colony. To our mind the Central route is more conducive to the general good than that via Stratford. The opening up of the King Country and its millions of valuable acres; the consequent penetration of what is now almost a terra incognita ; the settlement of the people on the land; and the development of the natuwl resources of the are* now locked op j

and lastly, yet of perhaps as much importance as any other consideration, is ■ the settlement of the native difficulty, and the consequent saving of an enormous expenditure in the way of keeping a small standing army of Constabulary in the "North Island. All these matters are of infinitely more moment *o the colony then the consideration of the trade between Auckland and Taranaki. Of course it would be an agreeable proceeding to take, viz., Ibat of increasing the trade between any two portions of the colony, but this must not be done at a loss to the rest of the colony. The ertent of land to be opened up by the centra.l routeis simply enornaousin comparison with that which would be passed through by the Stratford line, and even if the difference between the routes in the matter of the facilities for settlement were alone considered the Central one would, we think, take precedence. However, putting aside the merits of each, allowing both to be equal in advantages—or even that the Stratford proposal possesses greater virtues, it is to be hoped that no indiscretion on the part of Auckland people will endanger the construction of the line. If they cannot get all they want, let them accept that which is as near to it as possible.